The Guam Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence hosted its annual National Crime Victims' Rights Week outreach event on Thursday at Skinner Plaza in Hagåtña, bringing together more than 30 organizations to raise awareness and provide resources to the community.
The event, themed “Kinship: Connecting and Healing,” featured interactive games, safety presentations and traditional healing demonstrations as part of the weeklong national observance from April 6 to 12.
"It's just a reminder about safety, about importance about the crime victims' rights, that we come together as a community for kinship to show support to those that are victims of crimes, that there are always services out there and also the community cares," said Joiel Setik, a project director with the Guam Coalition.
According to Setik, the coalition serves as the background organizer for the 32 booths represented at the event, while their partners provide direct services to victims in the community.
"We are here to stop crime, stop violence. So, that's the whole purpose that we do events like this to remind the community about the importance of coming together and just do awareness about helping out each other, showing love with one another and also stopping the violence, ending the violence here in Guam," Setik said.
LyAna Crisostomo, also a project director with the coalition, said the week’s activities began with a proclamation ceremony on April 7, followed by “Waves in the Villages” on Wednesday at multiple locations across the island, including Barrigada, Tumon and Hagåtña.
"This has been going on since before I came on board, and I'm going on three years now. But every year, we try to do it differently," Crisostomo said. "This year just worked out that we started having outreaches here at Skinner Plaza. Something different to take our partners out and just say this is a different space from the mall."
The event coincided with several other April observances, including Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month, Autism Awareness Month, Youth Month, Month of the Young Child, Month of the Military Child and Public Health Awareness Month.
Various government agencies participated, including the Guam Police Department, Guam Fire Department, Department of Public Works and federal entities such as the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations.
Battalion Chief Jerel Cruz represented the Guam Fire Department, showcasing the department’s drone capabilities.
"The fire department is multifaceted, so we're here to show our presence and our support that these victims, we would treat them appropriately," Cruz said. "We do have the means to treat them both in a medical aspect, and as well, we do have the capability to refer them and get the right people involved to further treat and help them."
Carmela Rapadas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized her agency’s role in supporting crime victims.
"Our outreach is to also give information about our victim witness program, information about the U.S. Attorney's Office," Rapadas said. "We are a federal law enforcement agency. And we have some initiatives that I wanted to pass out with the One Pill Can Kill program."
The event also featured representatives from the Office of the Attorney General’s Crime Victims Response Unit, who were present to raise awareness about their services.
"We just wanted to help the community. Just bring awareness and the services we offer from the AG's. And that we're more than willing to serve the community and just make it safer," said Soley Cruz, a paralegal with the AG’s office.
The coalition’s partners extended beyond local organizations to include the National Organization of Asians and Pacific Islanders Ending Sexual Violence (NAPIESV), which has collaborated with the Guam Coalition since 2014.
Nina Jusuf of NAPIESV said her organization provides training to local agencies.
"We are the designated training and technical assistant by Office of Violence Against Women and also by Health and Human Services," Jusuf said.
Earlier in the week, NAPIESV conducted training on facilitating support groups for sexual assault survivors.
"The most important is healing and safe spaces. So then, how do you create that safe space?" Jusuf said.
Lea Akima, a program administrative assistant with NAPIESV, said their involvement on Guam came through the American Rescue Plan grant.
"As an organization, NAPIESV has always wanted to make sure we prioritize and include the Pacific Islands, including Guam, in our funding, in our technical training and assistance, in any grant proposals," Akima said. "Because it is often an underserved community and overlooked by a lot of institutions."
The outreach event also featured representatives from Victim Advocates Reaching Out (VARO), a local organization that provides direct services to crime victims.
"We're providing brochures on the services that we provide to the community, and we're just helping raise awareness for April," said Latisha, a VARO representative. "We just come out here, and we try to do our best … it looks like we're really involving bringing family into it because it does take a village to raise awareness."